I started the thread on peach wood. Tomorrow, we are going for another
trailer load, and this time, I am going to bring home a lot of fairly
straight long pieces in the 3" diameter category. As one suggested, they
may be handy for legs for stools and benches. SWMBO already has a growing
list of things for the garden.

I got some big Forstners at a yard sale, so can make the mortise hole (Is
that what it is called?) But without buying one of those spendy tenoning
things, what would be the best way to make the tenon? Table saw set to a
depth, then chisel and rasp what's not tenon?

Suggestions appreciated.

Steve

For a simple bench, 3" diameter legs is pretty big. You will find that out fast. For a 2 person bench, 2" or 2 1/2" limbs/legs are often plenty big enough. For a plant stand type stool (12"X12" top... I'm thinking garden or patio decor item), 1" limbs are fine.... and plant stands only need 3 legs, like a tripod, it will be stable on any uneven surface.

Are not any of the pear logs greater than 3"? Get as large (diameter) of logs as you can.

Back to legs: Leave the bark on the limb until you are ready to install it, but make sure no bugs get in it. Spray the limbs, if need be, until they dry. Sometimes the bark will adhere to the limb permanently and add character to the "design". You can always removed any stuck-on bark, later, if you are not happy with it. Usually the bark sloughs off eventually, anyway..

You might want to leave the bark on any bench top (split) logs, also. Other than adding character to a piece, the bark protects the outer surfaces from nicks and defects, as you work the wood for whatever purpose. Maintaining the natural outer surface of the log, in good shape makes, for less finish sanding work, later, so leaving the bark on helps protect the outer surface until you are ready to expose and finish it.

I either hand carve, or use a disk sander to shape, most of the round leg/tenon ends to the appropriate size hole I drill. Most holes drilled, into a log bench, will be fairly deep, so only a good snug fit works well enough. The leg tenon doesn't have to be an absolute perfect fit. In many of my benches, the legs aren't even glued in, they just fit snug enough to stay put.

If you have a good forked limb, such that one hole is drilled in the end of the bench for the leg unit, and the fork equates to the 2 legs of that end of the bench, then the forked aspects don't have to be equal lengths.... they can be...oh...say 1" difference, to achieve ground-to-benchtop levelness. By turning the whole leg unit, within the bench seat hole, the forks' tips/ends positions/levelness will change, as you turn the whole unit. You can level any forked leg unit, that way, without having to trim any leg length... i.e., you can level any forked leg unit by simply rotating it (within the seat's hole), only, as long as the 2 forks aren't greatly/drastically different in length. Do you understand what I am saying, here? If not, I'm sure I can take some pics to demonstrate.

Sometimes, it is good to make the forks different lengths, also, so that you have to turn the unit for levelness. A turned position can make for a unique design, in and of itself. Once you realize this approach, study the different forks, to see which ones may be best for this type of manipulating and designing.... some forks are better than others.

Using this turned-fork approach, the hole you drill, in the underside of the bench seat, doesn't have to be straight up and down or straight in "alignment"... it doesn't have to be a perfect hole of/in any direction. Since you will turn the leg unit, the hole will be like an offset and the turning of the leg unit can/often will set all in proper place, for levelness. If you screw up with some aspect of aligning 1 leg unit, try another leg unit. Since no 2 leg units match one another, if one doesn't work as well as expected (offset-wise), then a different one likely will, i.e., different forks produce different offsetting results when they are rotated... and each one is unique. Playing with designs, this way, is neat, also. Being able to rotate the 2 leg units, this way, amounts to having 4 adjustable legs, hence a bench as this can easily be leveled on just about any uneven surface.

Sonny

Steve B wrote:
I started the thread on peach wood. Tomorrow, we are going for
another trailer load, and this time, I am going to bring home a lot
of fairly straight long pieces in the 3" diameter category. As one
suggested, they may be handy for legs for stools and benches. SWMBO
already has a growing list of things for the garden.

I got some big Forstners at a yard sale, so can make the mortise hole
(Is that what it is called?) But without buying one of those spendy
tenoning things, what would be the best way to make the tenon? Table
saw set to a depth, then chisel and rasp what's not tenon?

Suggestions appreciated.

Cut the square tenon on saw, round over with router round over bit with
appropriate radius, cut/rasp the rest. Three inches is way big.

Easier/faster (much!) to buy a tenoning bit.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Maybe just ready for a change? Check it out...
http://www.floridaloghouse.net

Steve B wrote:
I started the thread on peach wood. Tomorrow, we are going for another
trailer load, and this time, I am going to bring home a lot of fairly
straight long pieces in the 3" diameter category. As one suggested, they
may be handy for legs for stools and benches. SWMBO already has a growing
list of things for the garden.

I got some big Forstners at a yard sale, so can make the mortise hole (Is
that what it is called?) But without buying one of those spendy tenoning
things, what would be the best way to make the tenon? Table saw set to a
depth, then chisel and rasp what's not tenon?

Suggestions appreciated.

Steve


A draw knife works well if you have a way to hold the piece while
working on it.

--
G.W. Ross

Skier: Someone who pays an arm and a
leg to break them.

On Mon, 01 Oct 2012 18:13:39 -0400, "G. Ross"
wrote:

Steve B wrote:
I started the thread on peach wood. Tomorrow, we are going for another
trailer load, and this time, I am going to bring home a lot of fairly
straight long pieces in the 3" diameter category. As one suggested, they
may be handy for legs for stools and benches. SWMBO already has a growing
list of things for the garden.

I got some big Forstners at a yard sale, so can make the mortise hole (Is
that what it is called?) But without buying one of those spendy tenoning
things, what would be the best way to make the tenon? Table saw set to a
depth, then chisel and rasp what's not tenon?

Suggestions appreciated.

Steve


A draw knife works well if you have a way to hold the piece while
working on it.

Less than $10 buys you enough dimensional wood to build a shave horse
if you don't have a log to split for it. Mine's a tubaeight with some
Lombardy poplar legs I made from one of my trees in CA.

--
Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself.
-- Thomas Jefferson

On 10/01/2012 07:44 AM, Steve B wrote:
I started the thread on peach wood. Tomorrow, we are going for another
trailer load, and this time, I am going to bring home a lot of fairly
straight long pieces in the 3" diameter category. As one suggested, they
may be handy for legs for stools and benches. SWMBO already has a growing
list of things for the garden.

I got some big Forstners at a yard sale, so can make the mortise hole (Is
that what it is called?) But without buying one of those spendy tenoning
things, what would be the best way to make the tenon? Table saw set to a
depth, then chisel and rasp what's not tenon?

Suggestions appreciated.

Steve


If the legs are relatively round and straight, you can rough a tenon on
the router table. Raise a straight cutting bit a little above the
surface, depending on how much you want to remove to form the tenon. Set
the router fence to half the diameter of the leg from the center of the
bit. Mark the shoulder of the tenon, place the leg on the table and
slowly feed the tenon end (from the right) of the leg into the bit and
roll in a spiral motion up to the shoulder mark. If you leave the rough
tenon a little oversize, you can true it down to size with a rasp.



--
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure,the creed of ignorance, and the
gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery"
-Winston Churchill